Scanner apparatus with twin substrate stage, semiconductor photo equipment with the apparatus and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the equipment

ABSTRACT

A scanner apparatus includes an exposure unit and an alignment unit, wherein the alignment unit includes an aligning/leveling apparatus for performing global aligning and leveling processes for a wafer in the alignment unit and an edge exposure apparatus, receiving light from a light source, for performing an edge exposure process for the wafer in the alignment unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatusand a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the same.More particularly, the present invention relates to a scanner apparatuswith a twin substrate stage, semiconductor photo equipment including theapparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using thesame.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the art of semiconductor manufacturing, an early semiconductorexposure apparatus was a proximity exposure apparatus. The proximityexposure apparatus gave way to a stepper apparatus, which, in turn, gaveway to a scanner apparatus in the latter half of the 1990s. The scannerapparatus typically performs the exposure process by scanning lightpassing through a slit. The scanner apparatus has an advantage over thestepper apparatus in that a size of the projection lens may be reduced.The scanner apparatus may also average an error in the scanningdirection arising from distortion or mislocation of the reticle.Accordingly, the scanner apparatus has been widely adopted forhigh-resolution exposure equipment.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of semiconductor photo equipmenthaving a conventional scanner including a spinner apparatus 20 and ascanner apparatus 100. The spinner apparatus 20 and the scannerapparatus 100 are arranged to be inline. The spinner apparatus 20performs photo resist deposition, baking and developing processes. Thespinner apparatus 20 includes an edge exposure wafer (EEW) unit 25 thatperforms an edge exposure process for an edge of a wafer. Aloading/unloading unit 10 for loading and unloading a cassette in whichwafers are loaded is positioned on a side of the spinner apparatus 20.An interface unit 30 is disposed between the spinner apparatus 20 andthe scanner apparatus 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of the scanner apparatus 100 ofFIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the scanner apparatus 100 includes twinsubstrate stages 120 a and 120 b installed on a base frame 110.Substrate stage 120 a is a measuring stage and substrate stage 120 b isan exposure stage. The measuring stage 120 a includes a first chucksupport 122 a and a measuring chuck 124 a. The exposure stage 120 bincludes a second chuck support 122 b and an exposure chuck 124 b. Metroframe 130 is installed above the respective substrate stages 120 a and120 b. Light emission parts 142 a and 142 b and light absorption parts144 a and 144 b that perform aligning and leveling processes areinstalled under the portion of the metro frame 130 disposed above themeasuring stage 120 a. A projection lens 160 and a reticle R andauto-focusing units 152 a and 152 b for performing the exposure processare respectively installed above and below the portion of the metroframe 130 disposed above the exposure stage 120 b. Light for theexposure process is directed from a light source 170, e.g., a KrF or ArFexcimer laser, which may be remote from the scanner apparatus. An arrowindicates a light path from the light source 170 to the projection lens160.

A semiconductor photo process will now be described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. After a wafer W1 is loaded from the loading/unloadingunit 10 to the spinner apparatus 20, a conventional photoresist coatingprocess is performed. After the wafer W1 is transferred to the scannerapparatus 100 via the interface unit 30, the wafer W1 is loaded in apre-alignment unit (not shown) to be aligned in a predeterminedorientation. Next, the wafer W1 is conveyed to the alignment unit of thescanner apparatus 100 and loaded in the measuring stage 120 a, afterwhich the global aligning and leveling processes for the wafer W1 areperformed.

After the above, the wafer W1 is conveyed to the exposure unit of thescanner apparatus 100 and loaded in the exposure substrate stage 120 b.At the same time, a wafer W2 may be loaded in the measuring substratestage 120 a. In the exposure substrate stage 120 b, an exposure processis performed by repeating step and scanning operations for the wafer W1.Concurrently, in the alignment unit, the global aligning and levelingprocesses may be performed for the wafer W2. Since the time forperforming the global aligning and leveling processes in the alignmentunit may be about 60% of the time for performing the exposure process inthe exposure unit, the wafer W2, which has completed the global aligningand leveling processes, may need to wait to enter the next stage inorder to perform the consecutive processes for multiple wafers.

When the exposure process for the wafer W1 is completed in the measuringstage 120 a, the first W1 is transferred from the scanner apparatus 100to the EEW unit 25 to go through an edge exposure process, after whichthe developing process for the wafer W1 may be performed by the spinnerapparatus 20. When the developing process is completed, the wafer W1 isconveyed out of the semiconductor photo equipment by theloading/unloading unit 10.

In the process described above, the edge exposure is performed in theEEW unit 25 of the spinner apparatus 20, and thus the accuracy andprecision of the process may be less than ideal, e.g., because a profileof the photo resist pattern may not be vertically formed. That is, sincethere is no precise exposure unit in the spinning apparatus, theaccuracy and precision of the edge exposure process may be less thanideal. If the pattern is not too small, or if the size of the wafer issmall, the precision and accuracy may not be a significant problem inthe exposure process for the wafer edge. However, as the exposurepattern of the semiconductor wafer becomes increasingly small and thesize of the wafer continues to grow, e.g., currently up to 12 inches,there is a need to enhance the accuracy and precision of the wafer edgeexposure process. Furthermore, since the wafer edge exposure process isadditionally performed in the EEW unit 25, the whole processing time ofthe semiconductor photo process is increased, thereby reducingproductivity and yield.

The edge exposure process may have other deficiencies as well as thosejust described. A reticle having a shot area corresponding to 6 chips, 8chips or 12 chips may be used in a main exposure process performed inthe exposure unit. However, it may not be possible to use this samereticle for the edge exposure process. For example, in the conventionalsemiconductor manufacturing process illustrated FIG. 3A, a reticle R1having a 6-chip shot area may be used to perform the exposure processfor a center portion of the wafer as well as a portion contiguous to anedge of the wafer. The exposure result is illustrated in FIG. 3B, inwhich a shaded portion indicates a light reception region. Asillustrated, the exposure process for the portion contiguous to the edgeof the wafer, as well as the center portion of the wafer, is performedusing the reticle R1 having the 6-chip shot area.

However, when forming deep features, e.g., in the case of a storagepolysilicon process for forming a storage node of a One Cylinder Storage(OCS) structure, it may not be possible to perform the exposure processusing the reticle R1 because the shot area may overlap the edge portionof the wafer. Where an OCS structure having a cylindrical pattern 15,000Å or more in height is formed in the storage polysilicon process, severeparticle generation may occur during the exposure process. In order tosolve this problem, a reticle R2, illustrated in FIG. 4A, having a shotarea that is less than the shot area of the reticle R1, may be used toperform the exposure process. FIG. 4B illustrates a plan view of a frontsurface of a wafer exposed through an exposure process using the reticleillustrated in FIG. 4A. Using this “page shot” exposure process, theshot area does not overlap the edge portion of the wafer and is located,instead, inside the border—even when the exposure process is performedfor dies located on the wafer edge portion. However, the page shotprocess increases the number of shots required for exposing the wholesurface of the wafer, thereby increasing the exposure processing time,reducing productivity and increasing processing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is therefore directed to a scanner apparatus witha twin substrate stage, semiconductor photo equipment including theapparatus and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using thesame which substantially overcome one or more of the problems due to thelimitations and disadvantages of the related art.

It is therefore a feature of an embodiment of the present invention toprovide a scanner apparatus capable of performing a wafer edge exposureprocess in an alignment unit of the scanner apparatus.

It is therefore another feature of an embodiment of the presentinvention to provide semiconductor photo equipment including the scannerapparatus of the present invention, wherein there is no need to providea special edge exposure wafer unit for the spinner apparatus.

It is therefore a further feature of an embodiment of the presentinvention to provide semiconductor photo equipment having improvedthroughput, wherein an edge exposure process may be performed in thescanner apparatus.

It is therefore yet another feature of an embodiment of the presentinvention to provide a scanner apparatus that can improve the accuracyand precision of an exposure process as well as productivity by reducingthe time for performing a semiconductor photo process.

It is therefore also a feature of an embodiment of the present inventionto provide a scanner apparatus that may reduce an exposure processingtime and improve productivity by using a reticle having a shot areaidentical to that of an exposure process for other layers, and withoutusing a reticle divided into a smaller shot area, even when an exposureprocess for a layer having a deep pattern, e.g., an OCS polysiliconlayer, is performed.

At least one of the above and other features and advantages of thepresent invention may be realized by providing a scanner apparatushaving an exposure unit and an alignment unit, wherein the alignmentunit includes an aligning/leveling apparatus for performing globalaligning and leveling processes for a wafer in the alignment unit and anedge exposure apparatus, receiving light from a light source, forperforming an edge exposure process for the wafer in the alignment unit.

The edge exposure apparatus may further include an alignment unitprojection lens for projecting light onto the wafer from the lightsource and a light intensity control unit disposed between the light andthe wafer, the light intensity control unit for controlling an intensityof the projected light on the wafer. The scanner apparatus may alsoinclude an exposure unit projection lens, wherein the alignment unitprojection lens, the light intensity control unit and the exposure unitprojection lens are fixed to a metro frame. The light source may be acommon single light source to provide light to the exposure unit and thealignment unit. The scanner apparatus may also include a light splitterfor splitting the light from the light source, the light splitterdirecting a first portion of the light to the alignment unit via a firstlight path and directing a second portion of the light to the exposureunit via a second light path and a beam damper disposed in the firstlight path. The scanner apparatus may also include a controllercontrolling at least one of the beam damper and the light splitter. Thecontroller may control the beam damper such that light is provided inthe first light path when light is not output from the light source. Thecontroller may control the light splitter to adjust intensities in thefirst and second portions of the light. The beam damper may beintegrated in the light splitter. The scanner apparatus may also includean alignment unit light source.

At least one of the above and other features and advantages of thepresent invention may also be realized by providing a semiconductorphoto equipment including a spinner apparatus and a scanner apparatusarranged inline, wherein the scanner apparatus includes an exposure unithaving an exposure substrate stage and an alignment unit having analignment substrate stage, wherein the alignment unit includes analigning/leveling apparatus for performing global aligning and levelingprocesses for a wafer installed on the alignment substrate stage, and anedge exposure apparatus receiving light from a light source and forperforming an edge exposure process for the wafer.

The edge exposure apparatus may further include a light intensitycontrol unit for controlling an intensity of light projected onto thewafer and a projection lens for projecting the light passing through thelight intensity control unit onto the wafer. The semiconductor photoequipment may further include a common single light source to providelight to the exposure unit and the alignment unit. The spinner apparatusmay not include a wafer edge exposure unit.

At least one of the above and other features and advantages of thepresent invention may further be realized by providing a semiconductormanufacturing method using a semiconductor photo equipment having ascanner apparatus and a spinner apparatus arranged to be inline with thescanner apparatus, the scanner apparatus including an alignment unit andan exposure unit, the method including performing aligning and levelingprocesses for a wafer in the alignment unit, performing an wafer edgeexposure process for the wafer in the alignment unit and performing amain exposure process for the wafer in the exposure unit.

The main exposure process for the wafer may be performed after the edgeexposure process for the wafer. The semiconductor manufacturing methodmay further include performing the main exposure process for a secondwafer in the exposure unit while performing the edge exposure processfor the wafer in the alignment unit and may include performing the edgeexposure process for the wafer during a step process of the mainexposure process for the second wafer. The method may be applied to anOCS-type polysilicon storage node process and the edge exposure processand the main exposure process may be performed using light from a commonlight source.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art bydescribing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to theattached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of conventional semiconductor photoequipment including a scanner apparatus with a twin substrate stage;

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view of the scanner apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A illustrates a view of a reticle used for an exposure process fora plurality of chips using a single shot;

FIG. 3B illustrates a plan view of a front surface of a wafer, which isexposed through an exposure process using the reticle illustrated inFIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A illustrates a view of a reticle used for an exposure processusing a page shot;

FIG. 4B illustrates a plan view of a front surface of a wafer, which isexposed through an exposure process using the reticle illustrated inFIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic view of a scanner apparatus ofsemiconductor photo equipment according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an enlarged view of a wafer edge for an exposureprocess according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0112901, filed on Dec. 27, 2004,in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and entitled: “ScannerApparatus with Twin Substrate Stage, Semiconductor Photo Equipment withthe Apparatus and Manufacturing Method of Semiconductor Device using theEquipment,” is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsof the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied indifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In thefigures, the dimensions of layers and regions are exaggerated forclarity of illustration.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic view of a scanner apparatus 200 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The scanner apparatus 200substantially overcomes one or more of the problems due to thelimitations and disadvantages of the related art. The scanner apparatus200 may be used in conjunction with the spinner apparatus 20 in, e.g.,an inline arrangement, in semiconductor photo equipment. The spinnerapparatus 20 may be a conventional spinner apparatus without the EEW 25as shown in FIG. 1. The scanner apparatus 200 will now be described indetail.

Referring to FIG. 5, the scanner apparatus 200 may include an alignmentsubstrate stage 220 a and an exposure substrate stage 220 b. Thealignment substrate stage 220 a and the exposure substrate stage 220 bmay be disposed on a base frame 210. The alignment and exposuresubstrate stages 220 a and 220 b may include respective chucking units224 a and 224 b, e.g., electrostatic chucks, and respective supports 222a and 222 b. The detailed structures and operations of the alignment andexposure substrate stages 220 a and 220 b may be varied according to thetype of the scanner apparatus 200. That is, the structures of thealignment and exposure substrate stages 220 a and 220 b are not limitedto those illustrated in FIG. 5.

A variety of components, including the exposure substrate stage 220 b,may make up an exposure unit of the scanner apparatus 200 and may bearranged as illustrated in FIG. 5. The exposure unit may include a lightsource 270, e.g., a KrF or ArF excimer laser, a variety of filters andlenses (not shown) arranged along a light path, and a projection lens260 for projecting light from the source 270 onto a wafer W2. Anexposure process may be performed when the wafer W2 is loaded on theexposure substrate stage 220 b. The exposure process may includerepeated stepping and scanning, during which light, e.g., the excimerlaser light, is provided during the scan and is not provided during thestep.

Projection lens 260 may be fixedly attached to a metro frame 230. Themetro frame 230 may function as a fixing member in the scanner apparatus200 to enhance the precision of the exposure and alignment. That is, themetro frame 230 may function to securely fix members used for theexposure and alignment processes, thereby enhancing the precisionthereof.

A pair of auto-focusing members 252 a and 252 b may be fixedly installedon the metro frame 230 to be contiguous to the projection lens 260. Oneof the auto-focusing members, e.g., 252 a, may be a light emission partand the other, e.g., 252 b, may be a light reception part, and mayfunction to accurately focus a laser in the exposure process.

A variety of components, including the alignment substrate stage 220 a,may make up an alignment unit of the scanner apparatus 200 and may bearranged as illustrated in FIG. 5. The alignment unit may perform globalaligning and leveling processes and may include light emission and lightabsorption units 242 a and 242 b and leveling units 244 a and 244 b. Asillustrated, the alignment units 242 a and 242 b and the leveling units244 a and 244 b may be fixedly installed on the metro frame 230.

The alignment unit of the scanner apparatus 200 may further includecomponents for performing a wafer edge exposure process, in contrast tothe conventional approach wherein the separate EEW unit 25 in thespinner apparatus 20 is required. The wafer edge exposure components mayinclude, e.g., a beam splitter 292, a beam damper or an optical buffer294, a projection lens 275, an optical shutter 273 and a controller 296controlling the operation of the beam damper or buffer 294 and/or thebeam splitter 292.

The beam splitter 292 may function to direct some light from the lightsource 270 to a first path directed toward the alignment substrate stage220 a and to direct some light from the light source 270 to a secondpath directed toward the exposure substrate stage 220 b.

The beam damper or the optical buffer 294 may function to control atransmission method and/or timing of the light being directed to thefirst path to the alignment substrate stage 220 a. Thus, for example, anexcimer laser light source 270, e.g., a KrF or ArF source, may beexcited only when the scanning process occurs in the exposure unit.Further, the timing for performing the wafer edge exposure process inthe alignment unit need not be identical to that for performing thescanning process in the exposure unit. The beam damper or optical buffer294 may control the transmission method and/or timing of light to betransmitted through the first path, thereby compensating for a timingdifference between the light directed to the substrate stages 220 a and220 b.

The optical shutter 273 may control the intensity and/or shape of thelight projected to the wafer W1. The optical shutter 273 may be fixed onthe metro frame 230 by a supporting member 272. The structure of theoptical shutter 273 is not limited to a specific type, and aconventional optical shutter may be used. Light passing through theoptical shutter 273 may be projected on the wafer W1 via the projectionlens 275.

The operation of the scanner apparatus 200 illustrated in FIG. 5 willnow be described in detail. First, the wafer W1 may be loaded on thealignment substrate stage 220 a and the wafer W2 may be loaded on theexposure substrate stage 220 b. The wafer W2 may have already gonethrough alignment and wafer edge exposure processes by being loaded onthe alignment substrate stage 220 a. The main exposure process may occurin the exposure unit, during which the focus is first adjusted using theauto-focusing units 252 a and 252 b and a scanning process is performedfor a predetermined region of the wafer W2.

In the scanning process, light may be directed onto the wafer W2 throughthe second path, after which the step processing is performed to preparethe main exposure process for another region of the wafer W2. In thestep process, light need not be transmitted through the second path.That is, the light source 270 need not be activated. Accordingly, thelight source 270 may be controlled such that the light is only providedwhen the scanning process for a predetermined region of the wafer W2occurs in the exposure unit. The scanning and step processes may berepeatedly performed in the exposure unit, thereby completing the mainexposure process for the front surface of the wafer W2.

At the same time wafer W2 is being processed by the main exposureprocess in the exposure unit, the global aligning and leveling processesfor the wafer W1 may be performed. The wafer W1 may have already gonethrough a pre-aligning process. The global aligning and levelingprocesses may be conventional processes, and the period of time neededto perform the aligning and leveling processes may be shorter than thatneeded for performing the main exposure process. Since the two periodsmay not be equal, there may be a need for a delay after the aligning andleveling processes are completed for the wafer W1 before transferringthe wafer W1 to the exposure unit.

In the scanner apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the wafer edge exposure process may be performed in thealignment unit during the delay. That is, the wafer edge exposureprocess may be performed in the alignment unit during the period of timerequired for performing the exposure process in the exposure unit. Thisis in contrast to the conventional approach used in the systemillustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the wafer edge exposure process isperformed in the EEW unit 25 of the spinner apparatus 20, i.e., afterthe exposure process.

In this embodiment of the present invention, in the course of performingthe wafer edge exposure process, light may be projected onto an edgeportion of the wafer W1 through the first path. For example, the lightsource 270, which may include a KrF excimer laser, may be activated whenthe scanning process occurs in the exposure unit and the light may bedirected to the beam splitter 292 via a variety of optical units. Thelight may be split by the beam splitter so that a portion of the lightis directed to the wafer W2 on the exposure substrate stage 220 b alongthe second path while another portion of the light follows the firstpath and is directed onto the wafer W1 on the alignment substrate stage220 a.

During the step process in the exposure unit of the scanning apparatus,light is not used. Thus, light may only need to be intermittentlyprojected to the wafer W2. However, when the wafer edge exposure processoccurs in the alignment unit, light may be required for the wafer Wi. Inthe scanner apparatus 200 of an embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 296 may be provided. The controller 296 may control the stateof the beam splitter 292 such that all light may be directed into thefirst path when only the wafer edge exposure process is occurring in thealignment unit, i.e., during the step process, while all of the lightmay be directed into the second path during the scanning process. Inother words, the wafer edge exposure process may be sequential to thescanning process, rather than simultaneous with it.

The controller 296 may further control the beam damper or optical buffer294. The beam splitter 292 and/or the beam damper or optical buffer 294can be individually or integrally controlled by the controller 296. Thecontroller may also be employed when light is to be directed to both thefirst and second paths, to adjust the respective intensities in thelight paths and/or to control the beam damper or optical buffer 294.When the wafer edge exposure process is sequential to the scanningprocess, the beam splitter 292 may be a simple reflector and thecontroller 296 may move the beam splitter 292 into and out of the lightpath.

The light source 270 may include more than one light emitter, e.g., aseparate light emitter for use with each of the exposure unit andalignment unit. When light is to be applied simultaneously to the wafersW1 and W2, the beam damper or optical buffer 294 may deliver light tothe wafer W2 even when its corresponding emitter is not outputtinglight. When light is to be applied sequentially to the wafers W1 and W2,only the respective emitters may be correspondingly activated.Alternatively, the beam splitter 292 may include a filter fortransmitting light from the separate light emitters to the appropriatepaths.

As described above, when the scanner apparatus according to the presentinvention is used, since the wafer edge exposure process is performed inthe alignment unit, there is no need to install the conventional EEWunit 25 in the spinner apparatus 20 (FIG. 1). Therefore, the structureof the spinner apparatus can be simplified and, since another processunit can be installed instead of the EEW unit, the productivity of theunit process in the spinner apparatus may be improved.

In addition, according to the present invention, the wafer edge exposureprocess may be performed in the scanner apparatus. The scanner apparatusmay be a very complicated, expensive apparatus designed to perform themain exposure process. Accordingly, in the present invention, since thewafer edge exposure process may be performed in the scanner apparatus,the accuracy and precision of the wafer edge process may be improvedover the conventional art, wherein the wafer edge exposure process isperformed in the spinner apparatus, after the main exposure process.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the wafer edge exposureprocess may be performed in the alignment unit before the main exposureprocess is performed in the exposure unit, which may allow for a moreprecise execution of this process. This will be described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 6, which illustrates an enlarged view of a waferedge for an exposure process.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the wafer edgeexposure process is performed in the alignment unit before the scanningprocess, the exposure may proceed in a circular fashion, following aborder of the edge portion and step and scanning methods followingborder surfaces of an oblique line portion in FIG. 6, as a result ofwhich the wafer edge exposure process can be more precisely performed.

As described above, when the wafer edge exposure process is performedusing the scanner apparatus of the present invention, there is no needto use the page shot, unlike, e.g., the conventional OCS-type storagemanufacturing process. That is, when the scanner apparatus in accordancewith the present invention is used, since the wafer edge exposure may beperformed in advance of the step and scanning methods, it is possible,even in the storage polysilicon forming process, to perform the mainexposure process for the front surface of the wafer in the exposure unitusing the reticle R1 illustrated in FIG. 3A in the method illustrated inconnection with FIG. 3B. As a result, the number of shots may bereduced, thereby improving productivity and reducing processing time.

As described above, in semiconductor photo equipment including thescanner apparatus of the present invention, there is no need to providea special EEW unit for the spinner apparatus. The wafer edge exposureprocess may be performed in the scanner apparatus of the presentinvention after the aligning and leveling processes are finished. Thus,when the semiconductor photo equipment according to the presentinvention is used, a photo resist layer coating process, wafer aligningand leveling processes, a wafer edge exposure process, a main waferexposure process and a developing process may be performed in the statedorder.

Further, the wafer edge exposure process may be performed in thealignment unit of the scanner apparatus. As a result, the accuracy andprecision of the wafer edge exposure process may be improved relative tothe conventional case, wherein the spinner apparatus is used. Inaddition, since it may be possible to perform the wafer edge exposureprocess in advance using the step and scanning methods, it may bepossible to use a reticle having a shot area identical to that used forother processes—even, e.g., in a main exposure process of the OCS-typepolysilicon storage node forming process. Thus, there is no need to usea page shot having a reticle with smaller divisions. Therefore, thenumber of shots can be reduced and the productivity can be improved.

Furthermore, with semiconductor photo equipment including the scannerapparatus of the present invention, a special EEW unit is not required.Thus, another unit can be installed in the spinner apparatus, therebysimplifying the spinner apparatus and/or improving throughput.

In addition, when the semiconductor photo process is performed using thesemiconductor photo equipment including the scanner apparatus of thepresent invention, since it may be possible to utilize the delay afterthe aligning and leveling processes are finished, the utilization of thesemiconductor photo equipment may be increased, thereby improvingproductivity.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosedherein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and areto be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurpose of limitation. Accordingly, it will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as set forth in the following claims.

1. A scanner apparatus having an exposure unit and an alignment unit,wherein the alignment unit comprises: an aligning/leveling apparatus forperforming global aligning and leveling processes for a wafer on analignment substrate stage in the alignment unit; and an edge exposureapparatus, receiving light from a light source, for performing an edgeexposure process for the wafer on the alignment substrate stage in thealignment unit, wherein the aligning/leveling apparatus and the edgeexposure apparatus are stacked vertically on opposite sides of a metroframe on the alignment substrate stage so as to perform the globalaligning and leveling processes and the edge exposure process withoutmoving the wafer on the alignment substrate stage.
 2. The scannerapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the edge exposure apparatusfurther comprises: an alignment unit projection lens for projectinglight onto the wafer from the light source; and a light intensitycontrol unit disposed between the light and the wafer, the lightintensity control unit for controlling an intensity of the projectedlight on the wafer.
 3. The scanner apparatus as claimed in claim 2,further comprising an exposure unit projection lens, wherein thealignment unit projection lens, the light intensity control unit and theexposure unit projection lens are fixed to the metro frame.
 4. Thescanner apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light source is acommon single light source to provide light to the exposure unit and thealignment unit.
 5. The scanner apparatus as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: a light splitter for splitting the light from the lightsource, the light splitter directing a first portion of the light to thealignment unit via a first light path and directing a second portion ofthe light to the exposure unit via a second light path; and a beamdamper disposed in the first light path.
 6. The scanner apparatus asclaimed in claim 5, further comprising a controller controlling at leastone of the beam damper and the light splitter.
 7. The scanner apparatusas claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller controls the beam dampersuch that light is provided in the first light path when light is notoutput from the light source.
 8. The scanner apparatus as claimed inclaim 6, wherein the controller controls the light splitter to adjustintensities in the first and second portions of the light.
 9. Thescanner apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the beam damper isintegrated in the light splitter.
 10. A semiconductor photo equipmentcomprising: a spinner apparatus and a scanner apparatus arranged inline,wherein the scanner apparatus includes: an exposure unit having anexposure substrate stage and an alignment unit having an alignmentsubstrate stage, wherein the alignment unit includes: analigning/leveling apparatus for performing global aligning and levelingprocesses for a wafer on an alignment substrate stage installed on thealignment substrate stage; and an edge exposure apparatus receivinglight from a light source, for performing an edge exposure process forthe wafer on the alignment substrate stage in the alignment unit,wherein the aligning/leveling apparatus and the edge exposure apparatusare stacked vertically on opposite sides of a metro frame on thealignment substrate stage so as to perform the global aligning andleveling processes and the edge exposure process without moving thewafer on the alignment substrate stage.
 11. The semiconductor photoequipment as claimed in claim 10, wherein the edge exposure apparatusfurther comprises: a light intensity control unit for controlling anintensity of light projected onto the wafer; and a projection lens forprojecting the light passing through the light intensity control unitonto the wafer.
 12. The semiconductor photo equipment as claimed inclaim 10, further comprising a common single light source to providelight to the exposure unit and the alignment unit.
 13. The semiconductorphoto equipment as claimed in claim 10, wherein the spinner apparatusdoes not include a wafer edge exposure unit.
 14. A semiconductormanufacturing method using semiconductor photo equipment having ascanner apparatus and a spinner apparatus arranged to be inline with thescanner apparatus, the scanner apparatus including an alignment unitcomprising an aligning/leveling apparatus and an edge exposureapparatus, and an exposure unit, the method comprising: performingaligning and leveling processes for a first wafer on an alignmentsubstrate stage in the alignment unit; performing an wafer edge exposureprocess for the first wafer on the alignment substrate stage in thealignment unit; and performing a main exposure process for the firstwafer in the exposure units, wherein the aligning/leveling apparatus andthe edge exposure apparatus are stacked vertically on opposite sides ofa metro frame on the alignment substrate stage, and wherein the aligningand leveling processes and the edge exposure process are performedwithout moving the first wafer on the alignment substrate stage.
 15. Thesemiconductor manufacturing method as claimed in claim 14, wherein themain exposure process for the first wafer is performed after the edgeexposure process for the first wafer.
 16. The semiconductormanufacturing method as claimed in claim 14, further comprisingperforming the main exposure process for a second wafer in the exposureunit while performing the edge exposure process for the first wafer inthe alignment unit.
 17. The semiconductor manufacturing method asclaimed in claim 16, further comprising performing the edge exposureprocess for the first wafer during a step process of the main exposureprocess for the second wafer.
 18. The semiconductor manufacturing methodas claimed in claim 17, wherein the method is applied to an OCS-typepolysilicon storage node process.
 19. The semiconductor manufacturingmethod as claimed in claim 14, wherein the edge exposure process and themain exposure process are performed using light from a common lightsource.